Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd Makes New Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,750 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,928,000. Salesforce comprises about 2.4% of Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. bought a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $383,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 11,451 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,134,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 14.2% during the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $830,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the period. Jacobsen Capital Management increased its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% during the third quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 1,578 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 6.4% in the third quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,382 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $374.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock opened at $307.19 on Thursday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $293.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.53, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $330.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $306.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.